videos

Google may be all about search, but it looks like Swype is hoping to usurp their search box as the easiest way to find things on Android devices. The company showed Android Community an upcoming version of the app which adds text-based global shortcut support: type your search term into any text box, double tap it and then use Swype commands to trigger new Twitter and Facebook messages, Google Maps searches, and more.
So, if you're texting someone to invite them for a drink and you want to find the nearest coffee shop, you could Swype in "coffee shop" into the body of your SMS, highlight it, and then gesture from the Swype key up to G then M. Swype will automatically load Google Maps and search for that term. When the new version ships, Swype will preload a selection of shortcuts, but also allow users to define their own.
Meanwhile, the app also gets multi-tap text entry support, useful for those who ever have been frustrated by trying to Swype in non-dictionary words. The app switched seamlessly between the two modes with no settings changed. More in the video below.
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Sonos has been promising an Android controller app for a while now, and we've just had a chance to go hands on with the software at the pre-MWC ShowStoppers event. Headed to the Android Market in March as a free download, the app does everything we're familiar with from the iOS version for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, but also gets some extra functionality by virtue of Google's more flexible attitude towards hardware.
So, the volume buttons on the side of the handset - in this case a demo Nexus S - will work to control the master volume or the zone volume when you're in the Sonos app, and there's integration with Google's voice search functionality too. That allows you to search for a specific artist, track or album simply by saying the name out loud (of course, you can always use the on-screen keyboard instead).
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Functionally, it all works just as well as the Apple version, and navigating between two different zones - in this case Sonos S5 players - was a matter of tapping and picking a track to play. There's nothing here that will spoil Sonos' reputation of solid, straightforward usability. The company has promised a review copy when it comes out of final beta, so we'll save our final opinion for then, but so far things look great.
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LG's Optimus 3D continues to emerge in a steady drip of pre-MWC 2011 details, the latest being a render video that seemingly tallies with the leaked handset spotted last month. Pocket-lint's source sent them the footage, which shows a brief glimpse of the murky smartphone and some double-flashing action from the camera array on the rear.
The video follows footage of LG's other 3D-toting Android device, the LG G-Tablet, which emerged earlier today. Unlike the G-Tablet, however, the Optimus 3D is expected to have a glasses-free 3D display which can show three-dimensional pictures without the silly specs.
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LG's G-Slate has been caught on video doing its 3D thing, and it's bad news if you were expecting the sort of 3D technology we've seen on HDTVs in the living room of late. Instead, the G-Slate uses a basic anaglyphic system, phasing the picture into two red/blue images that will use passive colored-lens glasses to combine them into a 3D picture.
It's all courtesy of a new video overview posted to YouTube, seemingly the latest in LG's attempt to slip the Honeycomb-based G-Slate out in every way bar actually giving reviewers one to play with. Still, we won't argue with a glance at all the ports and the docking station connector pins, and hopefully we'll have some hands-on time next week when Android Community heads to MWC 2011 to play with the European version of the G-Slate, the LG Optimus Pad.
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[via SlashGear]

Notion Ink has released a new firmware update for its Adam tablet, addressing multiple launch issues with the Tegra 2 slate and generally smoothing out the overall user-experience. According to Notion Ink Fan, the Eden UI panels are now more stable, browser tabs are more reliable, and the video player is less jumpy when you toggle play/pause.
Meanwhile, Adam owner Shane Trafford - who you might recall was among the first wave of recipients - has sent in his own video demo of the Notion Ink slate doing its thing (which you can see below).
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[via Lilliputing]

UK networks Three and Vodafone have both confirmed that LG's Optimus 3D is on its way, though neither will admit to a release date. Vodafone's announcement was straightforward, with the carrier telling Electricpig that "it will come to Vodafone. As soon as it’s launched, we will bring it to the UK."
Three was slightly more surreptitious, instead using Twitter to link to the promotional "Something big is coming" video which LG released earlier in the week. The Optimus 3D is expected to launch at MWC 2011 later this month complete with a 3D-capable display and a dual-camera array.
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Skifta has been bubbling away in Qualcomm's labs since 2009, and the company's Android app is the first to be DLNA certified under the Digital Living Network Alliance's new software certification program. Skifta promises to funnel content easily from a phone, NAS or cloud-store, via your Android 2.2+ smartphone, to any DLNA playback source.
That could be a PS3, an HDTV, stereo, PC or other device; there's a list of examples here. While we've seen DLNA-compliant Android smartphones before, Skifta promises to boost usability with a slicker remote control display, as well as giving the functionality to every Android device. More details in the video below.
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Press Release:

Skifta Becomes First Software Application to Receive DLNA Certification
Application-based Service Turns Smartphones and Tablets into Global Remote Controls for Streaming Media and Furthers DLNA Vision for Connected Digital Home
SAN DIEGO — February 2, 2011 — Skifta™ for Android, a product of Qualcomm Services Labs Inc., has become the first application to be certified by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) under its new Software Certification program. Skifta is an application-based media shifting service that allows consumers to access and play their digital media from virtually any source, whether it’s accessed on the phone, from the cloud, or remotely from home. Consumers can then stream this media to DLNA Certified® consumer electronics such as TVs, IP-connected stereos, Windows 7 PCs, PlayStation3 game consoles and many other consumer electronics product via their Android smartphones and tablets.
As a DLNA-Certified® software application, Skifta now gives Android users the added assurance that digital music, photos and videos from the phone and around the connected home can be streamed easily to DLNA Certified® products at home or on the go. Through DLNA Certification, Skifta helps meet digital media consumers’ demand for a reliable, interoperable platform for accessing and streaming media within the connected home, or accessing it remotely via smartphone.
“We are proud that the Skifta Android application has become the first DLNA Certified software application,” said Bruce Jackson, vice president of technology at Qualcomm Services Labs. “The Skifta application demonstrates our commitment to DLNA and to making the smartphone central to the connected home and lifestyle. The Skifta application creates the potential for tens of millions of smartphones and tablets to run DLNA Certified® software and stream multimedia content reliably to devices around the home.”
Analysts estimate that that there will be nearly two billion DLNA Certified® devices in homes worldwide by 2014, and some expect that DLNA software certification will propel adoption and usage of DLNA devices on consumers’ home networks. The Skifta application takes advantage of the rapid adoption of DLNA-enabled devices, the growing desire for on-demand streaming media, and the rapid proliferation of smartphones to deliver an easy-to-use service for taking your digital media with you, without actually having to take it with you.
“DLNA Certified® software such as Skifta will help bring content such as photos, videos and music, stored on DLNA Certified® devices, to an even larger selection of consumer electronics, mobile and PC products,” said Nidhish Parikh, chairman and president of DLNA. “Qualcomm has been an active DLNA member for some time and as the first Certified software application, Skifta complements the DLNA standards and vision.”
Availability
The Skifta application beta is currently available as a free download in the Android Marketplace for smartphones running Android version 2.2 and higher.

Samsung has challenged reports that Galaxy Tab sales have been "quite small", despite being the source of those very rumors. According to the company, a misheard executive during the recent financial results call led to reports of Galaxy Tab sales being "quite small" rather than, as Samsung claims was intended, "quite smooth."
The company has snipped out the relevant part of the call and you can hear it in the video below. Meanwhile, Samsung is yet to comment on a report today that claimed Galaxy Tab returns rates reached as high as 16-percent in the US post-holidays.
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[via SlashGear]

Samsung knows you like to get teased, and so they've a brief teaser commercial for the Samsung Galaxy S2 to whet your appetite ahead of MWC 2011. The video suggests that there are 10m secrets in the world, and that Samsung's new smartphone is the ideal way to share them.
Unfortunately, as Engadget spotted, Samsung has also let slip a secret of its own, thanks to a lapse in quality control in the video effects. One scene fails to flash out the device's reflection (as you can see above); question is, has Samsung actually used a real Galaxy S2, or are the models all just handling generic devices?
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[via Geekword]

To be honest we'd prefer a gallery of high-resolution photos and a full spec sheet about the LG G-Slate, rather than the company's apparent marketing strategy of squeezing the upcoming Honeycomb slate into promotional videos, but in the end we'll make do with what they give us. After showing up in Korea last month, courtesy of K-Pop star Seungri, the G-Slate has now cropped up again in a MysteryGuitarMan video.
The two cameras get another brief showing, this time separated with a "with Google" metal band similar to what's on the back of the Optimus 2X, along with an LED flash and a smudge of ports across the bottom. Beyond that we're left enjoying the music and puzzling the strategy.
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[via Engadget]